Mises, Murray Rothbard: Was the National Review a CIA operation? | William Buckley Jr

[Sola_Fide]

What going on over at REASON Magazine? They praise National Review/William Buckley Jr and call Ron Paul Crazy, Delusional.


I just found this...



William F. Buckley, Jr., RIP
Farewell to the man who created intellectual space for the libertarian movement


REASON Magazine
February 27, 2008


I received the news of Bill Buckley's death with a great sense of loss. No, he was not a major intellectual influence on my becoming a libertarian. I have to credit Robert Heinlein and Barry Goldwater and Ayn Rand for that. But since for most of us libertarianism as an intellectual and political movement has been an offshoot of conservatism, Buckley in truth was a great enabler.

By creating National Review in 1955 as a serious, intellectually respectable conservative voice (challenging the New Deal consensus among thinking people), Buckley created space for the development of our movement. He kicked out the racists and conspiracy-mongers from conservatism and embraced Chicago and Austrian economists, introducing a new generation to Hayek, Mises, and Friedman. And thanks to the efforts of NR's Frank Meyer to promote a "fusion" between economic (free-market) conservatives and social conservatives, Buckley and National Review fostered the growth of a large enough conservative movement to nominate Goldwater for president and ultimately to elect Ronald Reagan.
...

Some commentators dubbed Buckley a "libertarian conservative," and in the broadest sense, I guess that was true. Though he seldom let National Review deviate from his own Catholic social issues positions (especially on banning abortion), Buckley courageously took a stance against drug prohibition, making common cause on that issue with Friedman and other libertarians. And that enlightened view seemed to survive Buckley's retirement as the magazine's editor in chief (as one hopes it will survive his demise).
...


SOURCE:
http://reason.com/archives/2008/02/27/william-f-buckley-jr-rip



In other news....


The Ron Paul Delusion
Why the Texas congressman does not represent the future of conservatism



REASON Magazine
February 24, 2010

If only it stopped there. Paul isn't a traditional conservative. His obsession with long-decided monetary policy and isolationism are not his only half-baked crusades. Paul's newsletters of the '80s and '90s were filled with anti-Semitic and racist rants, proving his slumming in the ugliest corners of conspiracyland today is no mistake.

Perhaps the greatest tragedy of Paul is that thousands of intellectually curious young people will have read his silly books, including End the Fed, as serious manifestoes. Though you wouldn't know it by listening to Paul or reading his words, libertarians do have genuine ideas that conservatives might embrace.​

SOURCE:
http://reason.com/archives/2010/02/24/the-ron-paul-delusion

Wow. Reason really stepped in it with this article....

 

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

The "Cold War" was hyped sure, but America is implementing the Communist Manifesto plank by plank.

Free Government education?
Federal Reserve/Central Bank?
Progressive Federal Income Tax?

These are Communist Planks.

We had all those things before Cold War Communism, so to blame Cold War Communism is a sort of backwardation of the chicken and the egg.

 

[Sola_Fide]

We had all those things before Cold War Communism, so to blame Cold War Communism is a sort of backwardation of the chicken and the egg.

I think he is probably thinking that Marx's manifesto was the starting point for the planks of communism.

 

[Vessol]

Wow. Reason really stepped in it with this article....

Reason, from what I personally gather, is a bunch of big L libertarians who think the only way to success is to write articles and keep on thinking that a third party is the only viable method to victory. They hate Ron Paul because he took the libertarian message, which they failed to deliver it successfully to the mainstream themselves, and made it popular. They especially hate the fact that Ron Paul has gathered a lot of young folks, that's what bothers them the most methinks.

And FrankRep is bumping Murray Rothbard? Never thought I'd see that happening , jk. Partially making this post as a bookmark for later perusal.

 

[LinusVanPelt]

In the light of hindsight, we should now ask whether or not a major objective of National Review from its inception was to transform the right wing from an isolationist to global warmongering anti-Communist movement; and, particularly, whether or not the entire effort was in essence a CIA operation. We now know that Bill Buckley, for the two years prior to establishing National Review, was admittedly a CIA agent in Mexico City

LOL, "transform" the right-wing? Before Bill Buckley there was hardly any such thing as a coherent American right-wing.

Have you ever actually read any of Buckley's work or any biographies on the man? Everything in the above passage has long--and I do mean looong--been common knowledge; Buckley himself spoke openly of his time in the CIA.

And accusing the NR's editorial perspective of being "global warmongering anticommunist" is about as groundbreaking as accusing Cook's Illustrated of promoting global food-mongering epicureanism. These are "secrets" that have been "hidden" in plain sight for at least thirty years. Did you think that National Review was ideologically neutral or pro-communist?

And for what it's worth, I remain a huge fan of Bill Buckley, despite disagreeing with him on some things. God rest his soul. I even read National Review from time to time still.

 

[FrankRep]

bump

 

[iamse7en]

Are you bumping this because of the Ron Paul Rising article?

 

[FrankRep]

Are you bumping this because of the Ron Paul Rising article?

No, the Barry Goldwater thread reminded me of Murray Rothbard's view of the National Review.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showth...ry-Goldwater&p=3330808&viewfull=1#post3330808

 

[Aratus]

mr. william f. buckley had worked for and cashed
an ongoing paycheck from the CIA in the 1950s...

 

[Aratus]

the younger generation sometimes has not heard of robert taft...
prior to senator barry goldwater he was indeed mr. conservative!